Guard Your Belongings
by 3k
Summary: In a world where dreams acutally become reality.......what if you have nightmares?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 

Disclaimer: All characters except for the Lyrehs, Emyain, and Freya are copyright by Sega and Archie.

Author's note: This was my first try at Knothole fanfiction. It's a sort of Halloween story, inspired in part by an interesting fact about Halloween I read in a book on Celtic mythology, which went something like this: _'The glittering otherworlds of Celtic Mythology are invisible realms. Some are sparklingly heavens and some are brooding hells. The veil between the visible and the invisible worlds is gossamer thin and easily torn. Common gateways to the otherworld are by water, across narrow bridges or beneath mounds and wells. On the eve of Samhain, OCTOBER 31, all the gates to the otherworld open and wondrous spirits emerge from under the hollow hills.'_

A million thanks to K.M. Hollar for starting it off! She wrote the first page or so, as this was a competition entry, years ago. Her part finishes at the next horizontal line.

* * *

"It crept closer and closer to the unsuspecting campers," Sally said, the flickering firelight casting shadows on her face and glistening in her eyes. Tails, seated across the campfire from her, was all ears, and almost all eyes, too. "They never heard a sound," Sally continued, her voice ominous, "because the thing moved without touching the ground ..." Tails leaned forward, eyes locked on her face, hanging on every word. "It was a ghost?" he asked fearfully. "Yes," Sally replied, enjoying the look on his face. "It glowed white, almost as bright as Super Sonic, but it didn't flicker. It drifted like smoke toward their tent, transparent hands outstretched-- " 

"You're scarin' him," Bunny Rabbot said from her sleeping bag a few feet away. She was propped up on her robot arm, ears pricked. "If'n he gets hisself night-mahs tonight, he's a-sleepin' with you." Sally nodded, almost as absorbed in her story as Tails was. "Anyway Tails, it kept coming. One of the campers started to wake up-- "

The three of them were camped five miles from Knothole in a place known as Raider's Peak. The peak itself was far away, up in the mountains, but it was clearly visible from that part of the woods. The soil all around was thin and rocky, and the trees were scattered like sprinkles on a cake, occasionally in clumps. Rocks thrust out of the ground in many places, bare white, and orange. Streams trickled out of the mountains, providing life for the wiry trees. The three Freedom Fighters were camped beside one such stream. They had hiked all day long and thought they were tired; until Sally began the campfire stories.

"It was right over them. The guy who woke up saw it and yelled out loud. The other guy was like, 'Shut up and go to sleep', and he's like, 'No, no, it's gonna get us!' And then-- " Sally paused for emphasis. "The ghost POUNCED!" At that instant there came a nerve-jangling screech from the woods behind them. Tails, already on edge, dove behind Sally and cowered down. Sally and Bunnie both jumped. Bunnie clutched her chest and said, "Oh mah stars! It was juhst a screech owl. Sally girl, you'd bettah cut the scahry stories. They's startin' ta get too in-tay-ence." Shaken, Sally and Tails both agreed and crawled into their sleeping bags. Neither of them had wanted to carry the tent (and Bunnie had come against her will and better judgement), so they were really 'camping out'. They all lay and looked up at the stars for a few minutes. Then Tails asked, "What happened to the campers?" Bunnie, who was lying next to Sally, kicked her in the leg. "Oh," the squirrel said hurriedly, "uh, they both jumped up and shot the ghost to death because it was a robot in disguise. The end."

Tails, seemingly satisfied, rolled over and was quiet. Sally glared at Bunnie, who winked at her and burrowed into her sleeping bag. Sally, not about to fall asleep after all that, fixed her gaze on the stars overhead. It was so clear; the milkyway was like a silken banner stretched across the sky, with big diamonds sewn in for good measure. Maybe if she looked long enough she would see a falling star. Too bad Sonic's not here, she thought wistfully. Tails wouldn't have gotten scared then. Him and Sonic are buds.

Tails and Bunnie ceased their restless stirring after a while, and Sally knew they were asleep. For some reason she kept thinking of the story she had told. "If I wanted to really scare him," she thought to herself, "I could have told one about how Metal Sonic comes back for revenge. No, strike that. It'd scare ME too badly." She rolled over and faced the creek.

"Aunt Sally!" Her eyes snapped open. She had dozed off. "Sally, wake up!" It was Tails. He was leaning over her, his breath in her face. She sat up sleepily. The sky overhead had turned from black to deep blue, and the stars had moved. It was somewhere around midnight. Tails was sitting up, his ears pricked straight up, eyes like dinnerplates. "What's the matter?" Sally asked him. "Nightmare?" He shook his head. "N-no. Look over there, up the creek." He pointed. She turned. Fifty feet away the ground sloped up into a stand of tall evergreens. They had considered camping there until Bunnie had discovered the plentiful poison ivy. At first Sally's bleary eyes made out nothing unusual. "I don't see anything," she told Tails. He grabbed her arm, his body stiff with fear. "Look hard! See? See it?" She rubbed her eyes and looked again. A small light was moving in and out among the trees. A firefly? Something shiny catching the starlight? No. It pulsed, growing larger, changing from yellow to blue and back to yellow.

Sally felt her heart freeze in her chest. What WAS that? She reached over and shook the lump that was Bunnie. Her voice had snagged on something in her throat, and no words would come out. Bunnie stirred. "What's wrong?" she asked sleepily. Sally gulped. Tails' grip on her arm was cutting off the circulation. An invisible rubber band was stretching between him and home. Soon it would snap and send him flying toward Knothole. She could feel one of her own. Her voice came un-snagged "Bunnie, there's a--a--a--" What should she say? Ghost? Flashlight? Laserbeam?

She couldn't take her eyes from the glowing thing, whatever it was. It was drifting aimlessly in and out of the trees. Bunnie sat up and followed their gaze, blinking sleepily. Then she too gasped and stared. The light, still pulsing in a shapeless mass, began to expand. It grew upward and downward forming--what? Was it what it looked like? A figure surrounded by a bright blue light? It was transparent, like a projected hologram; they could see the trees on the other side of it. It had arms and legs and a head. It was looking around, its ghostly eyes sweeping the woods. Its eyes were darker than the rest of it, but they were all that was visible of its face. It turned and looked straight at them. Frozen in terror, they could do nothing but return its stare. It lifted a pale arm and pointed at them. "Intruders!" it roared, its voice hollow and distant. "You are on private ground! Go away, far away, or you shall be terminated!"

There were three rubber-sounding snaps, and all that remained of the Freedom Fighters were their knapsacks, sleeping bags, campfire, and the smell of burning tennis-shoe soles.

* * *

The cloaked figure sulked stealthily through the shadows, crouching back against the walls where it was dark and scampering rapidly past the beams of light which radiated from the houses. Now and again it peered into one of the windows seeking a face it would recognise. It wore no shoes and had bare, cat-like feet. Its right leg had been robotisizised up to the ankle. 

It was a few hours after Sally, Bunnie and Tails' encounter at Raider's Peak, and the first light of dawn was lightening the sky and slipping over the hillsides and trees making them glow with a gentle sapphire light. After the three had returned to Knothole, unnerved by what had happened and longing to flee to their respective huts where they could feel safe and secure, they had briefly discussed the idea of going back now to retrieve their things. Nicole had been in Sally's backpack as she had left her regular boots at home in favour of wearing shoes more suited to hiking. None of them felt like the journey, they were all too tired to repeat the day's hike; the fear of the supernatural figure also deterred them from returning. Sally eventually agreed to at least wait for daylight before returning for her computer. That decided, they had said their goodbyes and gone home.

At last, the cloaked figure found what it had been looking for. It wandered slowly towards the hut, straightening its clothes and clearing its throat. Suitably prepared, it rapped loudly on the door. There was no response. The figure rapped loudly again, growing impatient. What it had to discuss was urgent and could NOT wait.

The second, slightly louder set of knocks roused Sally from her deep, exhausted sleep. She rose, rapped a light blue dressing gown around herself and wandered sleepily towards the door. She thought it must be Tails, come to complain of nightmares and wore a calm, reassuring expression as she opened the door.

"Hello?" she greeted the hooded figure. She was till half asleep and more than a little surprised at the stranger's appearance at this time of night.

"Good morning, Princess," the figure said, bowing slightly. "My name is Emyain, and I came from Raider's Peak. The Lyrehs have stolen your things."

"What!" Sally cried in anger. Questions filled her head. Who or what were the Lyrehs? How did this stranger know about them? "You had better come in," Sally said, finally.

She flicked on the light, and Emyain headed for the couch. Sally was pulling the door closed when a large black shape running on all fours bounded through the remaining space and sat on its haunches beside Emyain. It was a black panther, with silky fur as dark as coal and eyes as green as glowing emeralds.

"Ah - " Sally began.

"Oh this is Freya, my black panther," said Emyain, removing her hood at last. "She's tame, I raised her from a cub."

"She's beautiful," Sally said, gazing at the creature in awe. Emyain made mumbling noises, affectionately rubbing her knuckles against Freya's shoulders. The animal purred in pleasure. Emyain herself was a small grey fox with pale turquoise eyes and long black hair as dark and silky as her pet's.

"About the Lyrehs?" Sally began, drawing Emyain's attention.

"I am an outcast from their world," she said, turning to face Sally who was now seated opposite.

Sally was startled by what she saw, but tried not to stare. Emyain's eyes and muzzle were - different. Her eyes consisted of an iris and pupil, there was not white around the edges, and her muzzle not pointed like a fox's but more pear shaped like - like a cat's... Emyain sensed her surprise.

"You can see why. My mother was a panther, an evolved Mobian like you, and my father was a Lyreh. For that we are hated by all Lyrehs, as they despise all Mobians. Also my mother was not my father's only wife. That was my half brother you saw last night, his mother was an overlander. He took a great risk to warn you away," Emyain told her. "That glow you saw surrounding him was the result of a gateway being created between your dimension and ours. Mobius is hated because it is a real world, unlike Lyrehtis. It is a place made of thoughts and imagination, the greatest pleasures and the deadliest dangers. Most say it is a creation of the Mobians, forced into being by the sheer power of belief, hopes, and fear. It is a beautiful place, yet they fear it is only a shadow of Mobius, something to wonder about for a time, but then forget about in the blink of and eye. They fear they are dependant on Mobians, without their fears, hopes, and pleasures they feel Lyrehtis would cease to exist. They resent Mobius' control over our world, they want it to be a real world of earth fire water and air like this one. A world as indestructible as yours," Emyain explained.

"Well I must have my things back," Sally said. "I had - important equipment - in my backpack."

"This is not going to be easy. When we go I'll have to try to contact my brother before the other Lyrehs see you. They'll defend their world and your belongings ferociously, so I recommend you get together a superb team of fighters to help you."

"That shouldn't be hard. How many can we take?" Sally replied. "As many as you need. You'll need all the help you can get!"

There came another knock on the door. Freya's ears pricked up at the sound, and she padded slowly behind Sally as she went to answer the door. Tails stood shivering on the doorstep. His eyes widened in horror as he caught sight of the panther. He stood rooted to the spot, fixed in terror.

"Freya! Come back!" Emyain called to her pet. The animal sighed and padded back to the living room.

"W - what was t - that?" Tails stuttered, eyes still wide in fear.

"Oh Tails, honey, she won't hurt you. She's tame. What's the matter?"

"I had a bad dream," Tails wined.

"Aw, honey, come here," Sally said, soothingly hugging him. "You want to tell me about it?"

Tails shook his head. Somehow his scariest dreams always seemed so lame and silly when he told anyone about them, and here in the warm, friendly atmosphere of Sally's house, his fear was slowly fading anyway. Sally lead him into the living room and sat him down next to her. Even Emyain's pet did not seem so fearsome now he could see what it was, rather than just a pair of glowing green eyes which was all he had seen at the door. The animal had been lying over its owner's feet, slowly licking one paw, but when Tails sat down it padded over to him, sniffing his knees.

"She likes you," Emyain commented. "Stroke her. Don't be afraid."

Gingerly, Tails stretched out a paw and laid on the cat's head. Freya purred appreciatively, so he stroked her head gently.

"It's too early to wake the others yet," Sally sighed, glancing at her watch. "You want something to eat or something?"

"Please, I could use a cup of tea," Emyain replied.

"Okay. Would you like some warm milk, Tails?"

"Yes please, Aunt Sally," he replied. Sally disappeared into the kitchen to prepare the orders.

"How did that happen to your foot?" Tails asked.

"It's a long story," Emyain sighed. Tails frowned. That's what everyone always said to him when they couldn't be bothered to explain something to him. But Emyain continued. "First, I need to explain where I came from..." She told him of the Lyrehs and their world created by imagination, and he listened in silence and wonder.

"Once , when I was walking in the woods, I discovered one of the Adi Falls, which are enchanted waterfalls which allow Mobian's thoughts and fears to enter our world. I wandered over to investigate, but something leapt out from behind the rocks, and shot my ankle as I ran way. My mother told me later that I had been shot by a SWATbot, and it had robotisised my foot."

"Many Mobians fear that Robotnik will invent mobile robotisising weapons for the SWATbots," Sally said, coming back from the kitchen with two steaming mugs.

"Guess I learned that the hard way," Emyain sighed.

Sonic was banging loudly on Sally's door, five hours later. She had dozed off next to Tails who was still fast asleep, with Freya laying over his feet.

"COME ON SAL everyone's been up for hours!" Sonic yelled, thumping on the door, and waking up Emyain.

"All right, all right, I'm coming!" Sally called, stumbling for the door. Sonic stood outside, impatiently tapping his foot.

"What goes on, Sal? I thought you weren't coming back for two days!"

"We had to leave... Rather quickly," Sally replied. "How'd you know I was here?"

"I saw Bunnie. Whaddya mean you 'had to leave rather quickly? Huh?"

"We were practically forced away from Raider's Peak by the residents," Sally explained, slamming the door behind Sonic and heading up the stairs.

"Residents? I thought that place was deserted, Sal?" Sonic said following her up.

"Look, Emyain can explain this better than I can, so go ask HER!" Sally cried, exasperated by Sonic's barrage of questions. She slammed the bathroom door in-front of him. _Oh fine, he thought, I was only asking!_ Not knowing who Emyain was, he thumped back down the stairs the wait for Sally to emerge. Emyain herself was in the kitchen fixing herself another cup of tea, so Sonic didn't see her when he wandered into the living room, and found Tails and Freya asleep. He sat down opposite the two, wondering who the cat belonged to. He didn't have to wait long to find out.

"Oh, hello," Emyain said, from the kitchen doorway.

"Hi there!" Sonic responded. "Who are you?"

"My name is Emyain. And you are Sonic, right?"

"Yeah, that's me," Sonic told her. "Sally said something about you being able to explain why she had to come back from Raider's peak so early?"

"I suppose I can," Emyain replied, and told him a similar story to the ones she had told Sally and Tails.

"Well, whatever it takes to get Sal's things back, I'm in," Sonic said when she had finished. Upstairs, they heard the door open and shut.

"I knew I could count on you, Sonic Hedgehog," sally said, gratefully. Tails moaned softly and opened his eyes.

"Hi there big guy!" Sonic greeted him.

"SONIC!" Tails smiled, waking up properly. At his feet, Freya rose to all fours and stretched, yawning widely. She nuzzled Tails' hand softly and he stroked her again.

"Found a friend?" Sonic commented.

"Yeah, this is Emyain's pet panther!" Tails said. Of course Sonic knew this already as Emyain had told him, but he pretended he didn't.

"Hey, she's cute," he said, coming over and tickling her on the chin. She lifted her head and purred in pleasure. Sally came in a collected up the dirty cups.

"What did you leave behind at the peak, Sal?" Sonic asked her. "There was no way I could have fitted Nicole into my hiking boots securely, so she was in my backpack," Sally said. Sonic groaned.

"What else was left?"

"Just our camping things; some clothes and provisions," Sally told him. "I don't understand why the Lyrehs took those," she said to Emyain.

"Well they hate having 'Mobian's rubbish littering up one of their sacred places' so they removed it. I imagine they'd be interested in your computer, but the rest of it they'll probably just burn up or dump somewhere on Mobius," Emyain told them.

"Emyain already told me everything," Sonic said to Sally. "So when are we going?"

"So when are we going?"

"As soon as everyone is ready. Go and tell Bunnie, and Dulcy to meet me in the war room immediately," Sally replied.

"Right away, Sal!" Sonic said, and raced out of the door.

"Can I come, Aunt Sally, huh, can I?" Tails begged. Sally frowned, and Tails' face dropped. "Pleeeeeaase!" he whined, trying to look as cute and pleading as possible.

"Don't look at me like that," she said, smiling slightly. "Look this could get really dangerous and I don't want you to get hurt. It's best if you stay in Knothole this time." Tails put a big effort into looking downhearted, although he'd known Sally would say this all along. It was the same every time the Freedom Fighters had a new mission.

"The others are on their way to the war room Sal!" Sonic said, letting himself in. "Hey there, big guy! What's eatin' ya?" he called cheerfully to Tails.

"Sally won't let me come," he grumbled. "Aww, Sal let him come - Pleeeeeaase!" the hedgehog begged. Sally grinned.

"No, I have already told him he can't come this time. It's too dangerous."

"Ah, come on Sal, he's nearly eleven! He's not a kid anymore," Sonic complained.

"With all due respect, princess you may need all the help you can get," Emyain added.

"Would you people stop ganging up against me!" Sally cried. "The answer is NO! Look, if he stays behind just one more time, he can come on our next mission, I promise."

"You promise!" Sonic and Tails echoed in union.

"Yes, I promise!" Sally sighed.

"Yeah, all right!" the pair cried slapping each other a high five. "We'll hold you to that, Sal!" Sonic warned. There came a knock on the door. Sally answered.

"What's taking so long, Sally-girl? Ah was told ter come immediately!" Bunnie demanded.

"We'll be right there," Sally said. "Sonic and Emyain, come with me. Tails, go back to your hut."

"But Aunt Sally!" Tails began.

"Now!" Sally ordered. Tails sighed, and twisting his tails around one another he took off and flew towards his hut. Satisfied by his apparent obedience, Sally and the others headed for the war room.

Meanwhile, instead of going directly to his own hut, as Sally had told him, Tails wandered over to Sonic's. The door wasn't locked - it had not even been closed properly the last time Sonic had gone through it - and now it was flapping about in the wind. Tails ducked inside, an instant before the elements slammed it shut behind him. Tails spied Sonic's rucksack strewn on the floor next to his bed. That probably meant he planned to take it with him on the mission. Good. Tails wandered over to Sonic's bed, crouched down and crawled underneath it to wait.

About half an hour later, a sonic boom warned Tails that the hedgehog had returned. He curled up against the wall where it was darkest so he wouldn't be seen, but in such a way that he could see what Sonic was doing. Sonic rummaged around in his room, tossing items into his bag, a power ring, a torch and some bottles of water. Suddenly he come over to the bed and looked underneath! Tails cringed, trying not to cry out in surprise and be discovered. Sonic grabbed a small black object from just in front of one of Tails' tails, while he held his breath, not daring to make even the slightest sound. Sonic moved away from the bed, and Tails heard him zipping up the bag. At first Tails feared he would he was going to take it then and leave, but luckily he wandered into another room. Breathing a sigh of relief, Tails crawled out from under the bed and began pulling himself into Sonic's bag. He moved fast, knowing that Sonic would return any minute. It was a very tight squeeze, but soon Tails was inside, with the zip partly undone to let in more air. He heard Sonic come over, then he was lifted swiftly up into the air and thrown about from side to side as Sonic struggled to get the backpack in his back. He (sonic) could not understand why his bag was so heavy with only a few things inside. Well, he had no time to figure out why that was now; he was already late for meeting the others. Tails' stomach lurched as the bag jogged around on Sonic's shoulders as he sped out of the hut.

"Sonic, you're LATE!" Sally said, sternly when he arrived.

"Yeah I know. I'm sorry, Sal," Sonic apologised.

"This is not a good start," Sally muttered under her breath. "When I tell you a meeting time you come on that time, not ten minutes later!"she told Sonic.

"What real difference will ten minutes make!" Sonic grumbled.

"Yes, but it's the principle that you - "Sally trailed off. It was clear that Sonic wasn't listening as he was already wandering off ahead - in the wrong direction...

"It's THIS way!" Sally yelled in frustration, stamping away in he correct direction. The others followed in a subdued silence.

The hike back to Raider's peak was as long and demanding as it had been yesterday. The group where exhausted and footsore by the time they reached their destination and Tails was sore all over from being bumped around on Sonic's back. It was hot and stuffy in Sonic's bag, and several times during the journey he had considered giving himself up. He knew Sally would be angry and yell at him, but at least then she might make Dulcy take him back home where he could have a long cool drink of something with ice.

"So what happens now?" Sally asked, sitting down; grateful for the rest.

"I will try to contact my brother," Emyain said. She sat on a bare patch of ground, knees tucked in slightly against her chest , elbows resting on them, and the rest of each arm crossing over her knees. She rested he head on her arms and closed her eyes. The others looked at each other, not understanding how this would help Emyain speak to her brother.

Suddenly, a large thin shaft of light appeared in the sky, in the same place the glowing figure had appeared the night before.

"Is that supposed to happen?" Sonic asked, uneasily. Emyain's eyes snapped open.

"No!" she said. It was both an answer to the question and an exclamation of terror. She stared transfixed at the widening rip in the sky, eyes wide with fear. "They're coming! RUN!"

"Who's coming?" Sally asked, alarmed.

"The Lyrehs!" Emyain cried, running off, stumbling over the uneven terrain. The sky looked as though it was cracking apart and something was coming out of the split. It was vaguely fox like in shape, and glowing all over presumably from standing in the gateway between dimensions that it had created. Another was following closely behind. The Freedom Fighters had made no move to escape, they needed their things back and they were prepared to fight for them. Instead they stood watching , mesmerised by what was happening.

The Lyrehs said nothing, and after about five of them had escaped from the split in the sky, they attacked. Inside Sonic's backpack, Tails froze, as a hand reached in, grouping for a power ring. Carefully, so Sonic didn't feel him moving, Tails pulled one out from underneath him and slipped it into the hand which pulled it out.

The Lyrehs appeared to be taking the worst of the fight, they were no match for Bunnie's immense strength, or Sally's fighting skills. Dulcy was attacking from above, lashing her tail down at the Lyrehs and knocking them away like bowling pins. A golden flash of light surrounded Sonic and he joined the fray, now able to swat away Lyrehs as though they were nothing more than flies.

He was trying to get closer to the crack in the sky to see what the Lyrehs over there were up to. They appeared to be pulling some kind of weapon out with them. Actually, what they were doing was adjusting the alignment of the weapon, targeting it directly at the fighting freedom fighters and Lyrehs. A bright light blue light flashed over the targets stopping Sonic in his tracks. Literally. It had paralysed him - his mind screamed at his legs to move, but they wouldn't respond. The others were similarly stuck, the ray had even effected the Lyrehs who were caught in the blast. Tails was petrified inside Sonic's bag. He had been in the process of climbing out, sick of being thrown about like a kangaroo on a trampoline, then he'd seen a bright light outside, and now he couldn't move.

Even more Lyrehs were emerging from the crack in the sky now, whole teams of them. They were all dressed simply in plain black vests like a sort of uniform. The bright glow surrounding them thinned and vanished as it had from the attacking Lyrehs. They approached the paralysed victims in groups of three, and simply picked them up. The freedom fighters all tried to fight against them , to struggle out of their grasp, but their limbs refused to obey. All they could do was wonder where they would be taken and what the Lyrehs would do to them.

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 

Nine of the Lyrehs carted the motionless Bunnie, Sally and Tails into a small room built out of stone cemented together, and dumped them inside. Then one of them drew a gun from its vest pocket and pointed it directly at Sally. Though her mind screamed at her in terror to move, there was nothing she could do to avoid the blast.

The blue light they had seen before shot out of the barrel and filled the room. The Lyrehs slammed the door and bolted it in the other side. The paralysis was wearing off.

"Tails what in Mobius are you doing here?" Sally demanded. "I told you to go back to your hut!"

"I'm sorry, Aunt Sally," Tails interrupted.

"How did you get here?" Sally demanded.

"I - I sneaked into Sonic's backpack," Tails finally admitted.

"You're sorry, you say? Is that all you've got to say for yourself! Sometimes I think you never listen to a word I say! You can be just so - so - So Disobedient!" Sally cried, waving her hands in frustration. Tails shrank away from her in shame, wishing she'd stop shouting at him.

"I'm sorry," He gulped again. "I'll listen to you next time, I promise!"

"We'll talk about this later," Sally sighed. "Right now we should work on getting out of here, and getting home."

"Maybe AH c'n bust us outta hare, Sally - girl!" Bunnie suggested, inspecting one of the stone walls.

"You gonna kick right through one of the walls or something?" Tails asked in wonder.

"Ah'm gonna give it a good ol' try, honey!" Bunnie told him. After inspecting the wall carefully for wherever there might be a weakness, Bunnie had selected her target. She backed up a couple of inches, slipped her feet into a fighting stance and pelted the wall with a single powerful kick that produced and impressive cracking crushing sound - but did nothing at all. The blow merely glanced off the wall, leaving the momentum to force Bunnie over backwards. The stone wall was untouched.

"Ah guess it's tougher than it looks!" she said sheepishly. "Seems like we're stuck hare, Sally - girl!"

"What's gonna happen to us?" Tails stammered, his eyes wide with fright.

"Hey, honey!" Bunnie cried soothingly, moving over and hugging him. "It's gonna be all right. We'll make it outta hare, ya'll see."

"You promise!" Tails asked. Bunnie tried not to hesitate.

"Yeah, Ah - ah do!" she stammered, At least that seemed to reassure the poor fox cub a little, though deep down, Bunnie felt almost as scared as he did. Sally, meanwhile had been inspecting the door.

"It's sealed tight in the frame, no hint of any crack, and there's no sign of the lock on this side." She told the other two. "But there is this strange design on the top right hand corner, see?" she said, as Bunnie came over to look. There was a circle engraved into the wall, with three designs engraved around its centre. "It most be for - something." The two stared at the markings for a moment, wondering what their secret was. Tails sighed deeply and flopped down into a sitting position.

"It sure is hot in here," he complained, shifting his position. Then he shifted again. For some reason, he just couldn't get comfortable. Frustrated, he got up and looked down where he had been sitting. The floor was made of earth, baked hard, with a light covering of loose dirt on top.

Where he had been sitting, Tails could just make out a peculiar shape in the ground, which didn't quite seem to belong there. It looked like something had been buried there. Curious, Tails dropped down on all fours and began scrapping hard at the earth.

"Whattya got there, honey?" Bunnie asked. Both girls had lost interest in the door and were staring over at the fox cub digging in the dirt.

"I think I found something, Aunt Bunnie!" he cried, eagerly. As the two wandered over to see, Tails finished his task, and held up his prize for all to see. It was a small, slightly rusted tube of metal, shaped like a clover.

"Let's see that - " Sally said, reaching over for it. Tails handed it to her and she wandered back over to the door, and stretched up to slot the shape in the engravement shaped the same way in the door. It was a perfect fit. As soon as the shape was placed, the circle in the door moved inwards a little. At first, Sally hoped it might keep moving until it fell out of the door, but no, it had stopped short. "We have to find the other two of those objects to open the door!" Sally realised, wiping her brow. "Is it me or is it getting hotter in here?"

"It's getting hottah," Bunnie complained, waving her normal had over her face like a fan. "We'd bettah find them other keys fast!"

The three ransacked the room, looking under rocks, digging in the dirt floor and searching the walls and ceiling for secret hiding places. All the while, the room grew steadily hotter and hotter till it became almost unbearable and the animal's fur was wet and sticky with sweat. Bunnie found the second 'key' lodged between two rocks in the wall, but the third key had still not been found.

"Ah don't know how much more o' this ah c'n take, Sally - girl!" Bunnie complained, thumping down on a rock. "It's burning mah arm and legs." she tenderly rubbed the areas where the metal plating stopped and the flesh began. The metal was conducting the heat right onto the fur... and it hurt!

"The third key must be in here. We just have to keep looking!" Sally said, defiantly. She and Tails began searching frantically for the remaining key while Bunnie nursed the burns.

"Aunt Sally! I FOUND it!" Tails yelled in delight. He had found that one of the tiles on the roof was loose, and it had swung open to revel the last of the three 'keys'.

"That's brilliant, Honey!" Sally cried, happily hugging him as he handed over the key.

"Good thang yah were hare, Shugah!" Bunnie said. "You're tha only one who c'n reach tha ceilin'!" Sally slotted the last piece in place, and the round lock fell from the door, making it swing open. Instantly all three felt the glorious sensation of the cool air outside, wafting in through the doorway, and they ran out into it, longing to cool off. Hissing and steam rose from Bunnie's cooling metal parts and she sighed with relief that the burning had stopped.

They were now in a long hall made of stone. There were several more doors along the way but all of them were secured with strangely shaped padlocks , similar to the one they had just unlocked.

"So, we gonna look for the others now, Aunt Sally?" Tails said, excitedly.

"Yes, but we must be very careful now. You will stay with us at all times and when I tell you to do something, you do it immediately, understand?" Sally told him, forcefully but calmly.

"Yes, Aunt Sally!" Tails said. "I promise!" Bunnie chuckled and playfully ruffled the fur on the fox's forehead.

"Ya're really one arv tha team now, honey!" she said. "So whare do we start, Sally - girl?"

That question actually answered itself. They heard a sort of snorting sound, like a large animal sneezing, and a large black panther bounded around the corner and raced up to them. Bunnie squeaked in fright but did not run, because her friends remained calm, recognising the creature as Freya, Emyain's pet. Tails reached out a paw and she wandered over to him, rubbing up against his waist as he stroked her.

"I thought Emyain left her at my hut," Sally said. "She must have followed us here or something."

"Maybe she could help us find Emyain," Tails said.

"She may have been tracking her scent when she found us," Sally agreed. Tails bent down on his knees and lent towards Freya's ear.

"Go on, girl! Find Emyain!" He whispered to her.

The panther's ears pricked up at the sound of her owner's name, and after Tails gave her an encouraging nudge, she padded down the tunnel, ears erect and nose twitching as she sniffed the floor along the way. Sally and Tails ran after her immediately, but Bunnie stopped just inside the room they had just escaped, and picked up a round object from the floor, before hurrying after her friends, limping painfully as the metal rubbed the burned flesh.

They followed Freya's nose until she stopped at a door at the top of a flight of stairs, and pawed at the thick wood.

"Emyain must be in there!" Tails said, excitedly.

"Yes, but it has the same lock as our door had and we left the keys behind," Sally groaned, her face betraying more frustration than her tone let on.

"No we didn't!" Bunnie said, happily. With a flourish, she revealed the lock from the door, with all three keys still inside it. They where easy to push out and insert into the other lock on the wooden door.

Emyain was chained tightly to a stone wall in the room beyond the door. She was delighted to see her new friends, and asked how they managed to unlock the door. Tails recounted the story excitedly, while Bunnie worked at pulling the chains apart, wincing at the pain from her burned limbs.

"How did you get burned like that?" Emyain asked.

"It was when tha room was gettin' hottah an hottah. Mah metal parts got a lot hottah than tha rest o' me an' cos thay conducted tha heat, thay burned me," Bunnie told her. She gave a small grunt of effort as she pulled the last chain free. "Thare ya go, Emy - girl!"

"Thank you, Bunnie. Thank you all," Emyain said, gratefully.

"Aw shucks, it was no - thang, shugah!" Bunnie replied, warmly.

"Do you know where any of the other are?" Sally asked.

"No, I don't, sorry," Emyain said. "If we could find my half brother, he might know, but I don't know where he is either!"

"Ah guess we'll just hafftah keep lookin'," Bunnie sighed.

The five friends searched fruitlessly for at lest an hour, until Freya's nose picked up the scent of something again. She followed it a very short way down the tunnel before stopping to paw at the bottom of a stone wall beside her.

"Whattcha got thare, girl?" Bunnie asked, bending down to see what the cat was clawing at. "Hey, part of this wall's loose..." she realised. Her ordinary hand scrapped around the wall, as she tried to tease out the loose stone block from he wall with her claws. It came out very slowly, millimetre by millimetre, until at last she could get hold of it, yank it out and reveal a small folded piece of paper behind it. There was writing on it, but in a strange language. The only thing Bunnie could understand was Emyain's name.

"Ah thank this is fer y'al," she said, passing it to Emyain.

"It's in Lyrehnian," Emyain realised. "And it's my half brother's writing."

"What does it say?" Sally asked.

Emyain read the note rapidly, and her eyes grew wide somewhere near the middle. "I can't translate the Lyrehnian directly into Mobian, but it basically says that everyone caught by the Lyrehs today was put into holding rooms until locations were allocated to them in the Eramli realm. That is the place where our worst fears become reality, a sort of living nightmare realm made of everyone's dread. What it means by 'places were allocated for them' is they searched the Eramli realm until they'd discovered enough Adi falls which is where everything in the realm manifests. Sometimes prisoners are taken out there as a test where every bad thing they imagine manifests and attacks them. If they survive, they are sometimes accepted as a new citizen of Lyrehtis,"Emyain explained.

"So... do you now how we can get to this Eramli realm?" Sally asked.

"Yes, that part is simple, but not easy. We have to think of the one thing we fear the most and concentrate on that image."

"That's it?" Sally said.

"Yes, but you must concentrate hard," Emyain said. She knelt down, hugging her pet's shoulders. "Okay, girl. Go home now. We'll be fine. Go!" she whispered into her ear. The animal made a purring noise and licked her hand with the tip of her tongue. Then she padded softly away, and the friends where ready to leave. Sally concentrated hard on what might happen if Knothole's secret location was ever discovered by Robotnik. Bunnie thought about what it would be like to be completely robotisised, and Tails recalled what he could of the nightmare he'd had last night. All three had closed their eyes in order to concentrate, but Emyain must have kept hers open, because after a few moments she exclaimed:

"We're there."

Where they were looked surprisingly normal. They were in a woodland clearing, loosely surrounded by shrubbery and trees. The sun was shinning high in a cloudless sky and small insects were dancing about in the tepid air.

"You sure we're there?" Tails said.

"Oh, we're in the Eramli realm alright!" Emyain said, a touch of fear or hatred tainting her voice. "We're just not near any of the Adi falls, not that we want to be. I think our best bet is to look in the caves. This way!"

Emyain ran off through the trees, and the others followed her.

* * *


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 

RRRITTICCC!

Tails' ears pricked as a strange noise, like that made by a cricket, erupted from a bush that he ran past.

RRRITTICCC! RRRITTICCC!

"H - hey you guys here that?" he called out.

"No?" Sally replied. "What did it sound like?"

"Hey, Emi, wait up girl!" Bunnie called. Emyain stopped.

"It sounds like a cricket, but I think it's following us," Tails said.

"It's just a bug, don't worry about it. And don't even think about it. Come on," Emyain said.

Tails reluctantly followed the others. There was something he really didn't like about that creature following them.

"Can't y'al go a li'l slower?" Bunnie piped up. "These burns sure hurt some."

"Yes, okay. We are nearly there anyway," Emyain replied.

The noises had stopped soon after Tails had pointed them out, but he was certain - whatever it was - was still following. He was sure he could hear it moving through the foliage a little ahead of them. Despite what Emyain had said, it was hard not to think about something, when you could still hear it. He imagined it as a long scaly creature, like a lizard, equipped with long sharp teeth and a deadly poison. Perhaps it was rubbing together a pair of insect like wings; to make the sound he had heard earlier. He hurried to catch up with the others.

After about fifteen minutes more of wandering through the woods, Emyain, who was ahead of the group, pulled aside the leafed branches of a tall weeping willow, revealing an entrance to a cave.

"In here!" she exclaimed.

As the others ran over to join her, the bushed rustled again, and a small creature, long and green, darted out from where Sally had been about to put her foot down. It leapt, and sank it's teeth into her foot. She cried out in pain and surprise, but the creature was gone, making 'ritic' noises as it fled.

"Oh mah stars, what was that thang? Y'al alraght, Sally - girl?"

"Some kind of reptile I think. The bite's really painful," Sally winced.

"I said there was something following us! I heard it! Then when it jumped out of the bushes it looked exactly like I imagined it did!" Tails cried. He was staring at the bushes that the creature had vanished into, shaking.

"It's okay, honey, it's gone now!" Bunnie said, hugging him.

"I'm afraid he might have to go looking for it," Emyain said. She'd given Sally a ribbon from her hair, which Sally was tying tightly around the bite mark, grimacing in pain.

"Tell me, did you start thinking about creatures like that before we heard those noises?" Emyain asked Tails.

"I thought about this really scary dream I had last night, to get here," Tails told her. "It had monsters in."

"You said it looked exactly like you imagined it did?"

"When I heard it moving in the bushes, I started thinking about what it might look like. Then when it leapt out it looked exactly like I'd imagined," Tails told them.

"Whattcha trynah say, girl? Can't y'al see ya scaring him?" Bunnie cried.

"I think we may have passed by one of the Adi falls back there. While Tails was thinking about that creature. The creature he was thinking about became real when we wandered close by the Adi fall.

"So I created the monster!" Tails gasped.

"Yes, and you will have to destroy it. To reverse whatever it's done to Sally," Emyain said. "Was it poisonous?"

Tails wouldn't answer. He'd gone silent with the slow lingering guilt brought on by something which isn't entirely your fault but feels like it is anyway.

"Then you'd best find this creature - fast!" Emyain said.

"Yeah, but - but how can I destroy it!" Tails said, tearfully.

"This creature came into existence because you believed in it. So to destroy it, you must not believe. In fact, you will have to believe it never existed."

"But it does..." Tails began, uncertainly.

"I never said it would be easy," Emyain said.

"Does he have to be on his own t' face tha monster?" Bunnie said.

"I'm afraid so...If two of us saw it, then two of us would believe in it, and it would be harder to destroy."

"How will I know where to find it!" Tails said.

"You will know. Now go on - hurry!" Emyain instructed.

Tails swallowed hard, rising to his feet. "Aunt Sally? I'm sorry!" He whispered. She stared weakly up at him, eyes wide with fear and pain.

"It's all right, honey...You had no idea what you were doing..." she gasped.

Tails turned away, quickly, closing his eyes against the scene. His tails twisted around each other and he floated away, tears running down his cheeks. He had never meant to imagine such a creature . It had scared him to think about anything like that, but at the same time it had been hard to stop thinking about it. It was only natural to think about what it might look like - what it might do to you. And now it had hurt Sally. He couldn't believe he'd done something so terrible. If she died it would be all his fault. All his fault. How could anyone ever forgive him? The pain, fear and guilt had welled up inside his chest, clawing at his heart, and tears stung his eyes like minute rivers of flame, his stomach swirled and twisted feeling full of oil.

RRRITTICCC!

Tails' eyes snapped open, and he gasped. There - there it was, that vile thing that had haunted his sleep and jeopardised his waking life. It was rubbing the tips of its two wings together, menacingly, making a grating sound that put teeth on edge. He was sure it had grown. It was grotesque, as big as a dragon, with the shape of a chameleon. Its eyes rolled madly, sticking out from pulsating, fleshy mounds on the side of it head. It had a huge purple tongue which lashed about in the air, tasting Tails' scent. It bared its huge fangs, dripping with yellowing saliva and hissed at him. Tails gasped in terror, clamping his eyes shut against the nightmare vision. He tried to picture the creature in his head, shrinking slowly smaller and smaller, so gradually that you could hardly notice, but rapidly so it would be gone, soon. The creature hissed again and lashed out with long, sharp claws. Tails, hovering infront of the creature squealed in terror, swerving out of the way, but at the same time, trying not to hear the sounds it made, nor feel its hot breath rippling his fur. It couldn't hurt him. It couldn't. It didn't even exist! At least, that's what he had to keep telling himself...for Sally's sake.

The three girls had taken refuge in the cave where Emyain had been leading them. Emyain was keeping watch for the creature or any other dangers at the mouth of the cave, trying to keep her mind clear of imagination which might create something worse. Bunnie cradled her friend against her chest for warmth, gently stroking her hair to comfort her. Sally wept and shook softly from the pain. Occasionally she would cry out, and Bunnie would try to soothe her, try to reassure her, telling her that it was going to be all right, that she knew Tails would overcome his fears and destroy the monster for her.

Suddenly, they all heard some-one screaming, and there was an almighty crash as a cave wall, not too far away from the trio came crashing down. Emyain gasped, not daring to fear what sort of monstrosity could have caused such a din. If she had dared to get up and wander a little way beyond the cavern where Sally lay, through a long tunnel and peer into the gloom, she might have seen a small blue hedgehog groan and get carefully to his feet, brushing himself down. He wasn't badly hurt, just a little bruised and scratched. He was more concerned about his friend. He reached up, and gently shook her scaly thigh.

"Dulce! Dulce! Are you okay?" he asked, in an urgent but hushed voice. A loud grumbling voice, like a child suddenly woken from a deep sleep declared:

"I'm fine, ma!" Sonic's worried expression vanished into a wide grin.

"Glad to hear it, girl!" he chuckled.

"Where are we!" Dulcy mumbled, trying to shuffle round to face her friend. Loose rock crumbled and rained down.

"Inside a cave, I think," Sonic said, peering around in the darkness.

"D'ya think we lost that thing?" Dulcy said, a touch of fear tainting her voice.

"I think so. Can't hear it anymore," He wandered around the room and found the enterance to a long winding tunnel of rock.

"Hello!" he called. The sound of his call echoed eerily around the tunnel walls and drifted out where three pairs of ears registered it. Two of them jolted in surprise.

"Sonic!" Sally whispered, and a small, weak grin spread across her face.

"H - hello?" Emyain called back down the tunnel. The hedgehog's ears pricked.

"There's some-one else down here!" he cried. "You - er - stay here and I'll go check it out!" he told Dulcy, who didn't really have much choice but to stay put.

"Okay, but don't be too long!" Dulcy pleaded.

"I won't," he promised, jogging out of sight into the darkness of the tunnel. Emyain stood peering into the gloom at the other end.

"Hi Emi! Just thought I'd drop in!" Sonic called.

"Hi Sonic," Emyain returned.

"What's wrong?" Sonic asked, catching her tone.

"It's Sally. She's really sick," Emyain said, sadly. Panic cracked across the hedgehog's features.

"What! W - where is she!" he demanded.

"Through here," Emyain said. Sonic rushed straight to Sally's side and clasped her hand.

"Sally - " He gasped, not knowing quite what to say. He felt numb with shock and concern. She smiled weakly at him. She was glad he was there. Somehow, his presence seemed to make the pain more bearable.

"What happened?" he asked Bunnie. She swallowed hard. She didn't know how to explain things to him. She didn't really understand all of what Emyain had told her herself and the pain of his despairing face, trying to find answers, trying to understand, prevented her from trying. It had welled up into a great lump in her throat which threatened to choke her.

"Ah hate t' pass tha buck, Emi, but I thank y'al c'n explain this better 'n' ah c'n," Bunnie said.

"She was bitten by a poisonous creature in the woods," Emyain told him.

"A...Creature? Like the one that chased me and Dulce?" Sonic asked.

"You saw it too?" Emyain gasped. "It didn't hurt you, did it?"

"No," Sonic replied, a little uncertainly because he was worried about Dulcy all on her own on top of everything now. He hoped she'd shout out if she saw it coming, then maybe he could do something to protect her, to stop it hurting her like it had hurt Sally.

She looked awful, small and weak, shaking in pain. She needed help and there didn't seem to be any way he could help, not that would help to make her better.

"There's a lot you don't understand about these 'creatures'. They cannot exist without our belief in them. You see, we are in the Eramli realm, a place where our worst fears become a reality. Then nightmares manifest around Adi falls. Earlier, while we were headed for these caves, Tails claimed he could hear something moving through the bushes, following us - "

"TAILS! Tails is here?" Sonic cried.

"He stowed away in your backpack," Sally said. The pain was not as bad as it had been now, though she still felt weak. All the same, she couldn't help hoping that Tails was getting somewhere.

"Oh man!" Sonic exclaimed in dismay. That was his fault and he knew it. Tails was always trying to pull that trick. He should have checked his bag, he should have...but he'd done everything in a hurry because he knew he'd be late for meeting Sally and the others, and he'd picked up the bag without thinking.

"So you mean to tell me he's on his own out there!" he fumed.

"I'm afraid so. Fighting the monster he created. That's - "

"What! WHAT did you just say? Tails is out there, on his own, fighting monsters like the one that hurt Sal? On his own! He's just a KID!" Sonic ranted.

"Sonic!" Sally cried, irritated. Her voice was still weak, barely audible above Sonic's shouting, but he heard her, and immediately forgot about everything else, momentarily, to help her.

"What!" he said, softly.

"Calm down, and listen to what Emyain's saying," she told him.

"Oh. Okay," he said. "Sally, I know I don't tell you nearly often enough, but you mean the world to me, you - "

"sssh...I know," Sally said, smiling. "And you do to me. Now you want to understand, so listen!"

"Yes, well, Tails said he could hear something following us," Emyain said, trying to remember where she'd left off and carry on from there. She hadn't known either of them that long and she was touched by how deeply they felt about each other. "Well, he started imagining what it might looked like, and we must have been passing by one of the Adi falls at the time, because the creature appeared, just as he had imagined it and attacked Sally."

"But what if it bites him?" Sonic said, insistently. He would have flown off into another round of shouting, but Sally had asked him to listen, and he wanted to help her in any way he could.

Meanwhile, across the woods, Tails was terrified of that self same thing. The creature had shrunk back to its original size, and was well aware that something was wrong. Tails had his eyes squeezed shut as he tried to dodge the creature's every strike, while trying to convince himself that it wasn't there at all. Under different circumstances, this might have seemed absurd to him, but now it was all too real with the now airborne creature's teeth, snapping down mere millimetres from his fur each time it lashed out.

However, he seemed to be winning the fight. The creature was still shrinking slowly, but surely, despite the fact that the more it shrank, the more viscous it became. When Tails finally dared to open his eyes, the thing had shrunk to the size of a small mosquito. Tails grinned. He was doing it, he really was doing it! If only he could just keep this up a few minutes longer...the creature shrank again...

"Sonic! What's going on?" Dulcy shouted down the tunnel. He'd promised her he wouldn't be long, yet it seemed like an age since he'd disappeared down that tunnel. She hated being on her own in here. That creature might be back any minute, and if it chased her away, she could get lost - or crash into something else, or if she got away, he could come back here looking for her, and it could be there, waiting for him...

Down the other end of the tunnel, Sonic gasped - Dulcy! He'd forgotten her!

"Go and see her. I'll be all right," Sally said. This did seem to be the case. She was sitting up on her own now, and had stopped shaking. After a moment's indecision, he dashed back down the tunnel, to reassure the dragon.

"Hey, Dulce!" he called. "Sorry about that!"

"It's okay," Dulcy returned. "But you said you wouldn't be gone long, and I thought that monster might come back!"

"You haven't been thinking about it, have you?" Sonic asked. He'd understood enough of what Emyain had told him to know what might happen if you thought too hard about monsters around here.

"Yeah," Dulcy said, a little uncertainly. She could tell there was something wrong with that. "It was twice as big as me, and - " But the hedgehog wasn't listening. He was staring up at something in the sky in terror.

"LOOKED LIKE THAT!" he finished, pointing, even though the thing in the air was hard to miss. It was possibly bigger than two of Dulcy, and flew on ginormous wings. Incredibly, for its size, the thickly feathered wings allowed it to fly as silently as an owl. It caught sight of the pair below, and leered down at them. It was the biggest dragon Sonic had ever seen in his life - and it looked like it might be the last...

* * *


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 

Almost as soon as Sonic had left Sally and the others to find Dulcy, Tails had returned to the cave where they had been hiding out. His monster was no more - it had shrunk smaller and smaller until it had simply winked out of existence. He had been racing back to the caves in delectation, brimming over with his success. That's when he had seen IT. And as he entered the cave, and started screaming to his friends about IT, the thing pulled back its head and flames flared out of its mouth.

Sonic, mounted on the frantically fleeing Dulcy's back, stared upwards, frozen in terror as the dragon slowly, almost lazily drew its head round after them, so the flame burned a mere metre away from the tip of Sonic's quills. The hot, cruel stroke of the flames almost charred Dulcy's scales, even from such a distance away. She screamed in terror - and then went crashing down, at the cave entrance.

The others were all waiting there.

"Dulce! Dulce! You okay?" Sonic screamed, once he had recovered from rolling off of Dulcy's back in the last moments of the fall.

"I'm not hurt," the dragon said, implying that with a dragon twice her size, which was about to realise that she had survived its first attack, and is probably about to give it a second try any minute, with a flame twice the heat intensity and length as the first - she didn't _feel _all right.

"Look, Dulcy, listen to me. You've got to fly. Emyain can get us out of here, but we'll have more of a chance of escaping the dragon in the air. Do you understand?" Sally said, panicking.

"Yesss..." Dulcy whimpered.

"D'ya thank y'al c'n carry all o' us!" Bunnie said.

"I-I'll try - HURRY UP!" Dulcy squealed. The dragon's first flame had burned itself out and it had a clear view of the charred remains, everywhere its flame had touched...but it paused in a moment of astonishment... the other dragon was still alive - and it looked like it would get airborne again any minute... The dragon reared back its head, slowly flapping closer to its prey. It would take half a minute to build up a flame big enough to strike again - but the other, puny dragon wouldn't have gotten far by then...

Below, the six friends had frantically scrambled and leapt, trying to mount Dulcy in the intense heat, which made her scales and their fur wet and slippery with sweat. At last, Tails had managed to help them all aboard, and as they clung on desperately, Dulcy flapped her wings, trying to get airborne.

Above, the other dragon watched its prey rise unsteadily into the air. Its mouth opened - and the flame burned again. Dulcy screamed in terror and shot forwards in the air. The dragon followed, lengthening its flame. Then there was a bright flash, and the other dragon had - disappeared.

In Lyrehtis, Dulcy bumped down in something that vaguely resembled a landing. Those clinging onto her back where thrown about like whips, and Tails and Emyain were thrown off.

"Sorry, guys!" she called to them, as they picked themselves up.

"How did you do that!" Sonic gasped, still not fully recovered from the terror of the dragon's attack.

"It has always been simple for me to travel between the Eramli realm and this. To get back here, I simply have to think hard about Lyrehtis whilst moving forwards - and I can simply walk back. It took me longer than usual this time, because I had to get you through with me."

"We STILL don't have what we came here for!" Sonic said, frustratedly.

"And the Lyrehs'll be after us again, any minute!"

"Maybe you should leave, and hopefully I can retrieve your things. I could meet up with you with them if you waited at a safe distance from Raider's Peak," Emyain said. "If I can find my half brother-he might know what the Lyrehs have done with your things."

Sally was undecided. Maybe some of them should leave - a smaller group would be less conspicuous in the yrehs' tunnels - but should they really leave Emyain on her own at the mercy of her race? Surprisingly, it was Sonic who made the decision for her.

"Sal - go. I can hear more Lyrehs coming. I'll stay here and help Emyain!" he told her.

"But-" she began.

"Go - just go!" the hedgehog yelled, ears twisted round, tuned into the approaching footsteps of an army of Lyrehs. Sally gave in. The others wanted to run, that was clear.

"C'm on then!" she yelled, leading the group out of sight, just as the first of the Lyrehs arrived on the scene. To find - nothing. Sonic had hoisted Emyain into his arms and vanished down the opposite tunnel a moment before. Their leader yelled something in Lyrehnian to his troops and they chased after Sally and the others.

Meanwhile, directed into a dark, silent room by Emyain, Sonic skidded to a halt. Freya was asleep in one corner, and Emyain went over and woke her. There was a makeshift bed of long grasses covered in two sheets against the back wall. It was a lot colder in here, and it looked damp. He couldn't hear anyone coming though -yet. It could only be a matter of time...

"Now what?" he demanded.

"I'll try to contact my brother again," Emyain said. She assumed the same position as before.

"How? Is it like telepathy or something?" he asked.

"Something like that - let me concentrate!" Emyain cried, irritably.

"Sorry!" the hedgehog apologised. He dashed about the room, agitated and nervous. Even Freya was pacing impatiently. Sonic was sure they'd be discovered any minute - and now he could hear footsteps, hurrying towards them.

"He's coming!" Emyain cried, suddenly standing. A short young Lyreh came hurtling down the tunnel.

"This way, come on! The Lyrehs are searching for you!" he panted, then ran off again.

"I told him what we were looking for," Emyain explained as they chased after him. Freya ran alongside Emyain.

"I stole the things from the storage room soon after the Lyrehs collected them from where your friends camped. It was me who warned them to leave," Emyain's brother explained. "And I hid the stuff back here. The Lyrehs found out just before you got back and they've been chasing me!"

Behind them, they could hear the running footsteps and strange cries of the Lyrehs chasing them. Emyain's brother belted into a room and rushed back, carrying a small brown sack.

"It's all still here. C'm on, let's get outta here!" he gasped, racing away as fast as he could run - which was quite fast compared to the speed of the other Lyrehs. Sonic was impressed.

The Lyrehs pursued them through the tunnels, yelling and throwing strange objects and stones. But Emyain and her brother were tiring now, and they were gaining. There was only one thing to do.

"Just yell directions to me, okay!" Sonic shouted, grabbing Emyain and her brothers hands in one of his, and Freya's collar in the other, and speeding away from the jeering Lyrehs. At another time, it might have seemed insane to suddenly grab a panther he hardly knew and drag it along with him, but Sonic wasn't exactly thinking straight with half of Lyrehtis pursuing him everywhere he ran, especially now that some of them were firing weapons. More Lyrehs were joining the pursuit as they progressed through the tunnels.

"There! There! Up ahead is the main portal between our realms!"Emyain's brother screamed to Sonic. "They'll have to pass though in small groups, which'll give us time to escape. If there's some-where I can transport you all back to before they get out..."

"KNOTHOLE! That's where we live. It's in a secret location in the Great Forest," Sonic yelled back. As he raced through the portal, there was a bright flash of light and a loud ripping sound. For brief seconds, Sonic had the sensation of running as fast as he could, but not getting anywhere. It was like being in a dream...

The light flickered away, and they floated down, close to where Sally, Bunnie and Tails had camped.

"Where are the others?" Sonic cried. There they were-hidden amongst the foliage of the woodland. "We got the stuff! C'm over here, quickly, the Lyrehs are coming!" His friends rushed to his side.

"Now, everybody, concentrate! Think very hard about Knothole," Emyain's brother said as all of them linked hands.

As the first Lyrehs began emerging from the crack in the sky, their prey vanished in an instant...

And landed rather heavily in the middle of Knothole, with a bang. As they picked themselves up, and Emyain's brother handed Sally the sack, Antoine, Rotor and several more of Knothole's residents came running over to investigate.

"Princess! Would you be minding to be telling us what ees going on? Who are zees people? And dis CREEeture?" Antoine demanded, staring at Emyain, her brother and Freya. Sally smiled, retrieving Nicole from the sack and dusting her off.

"It's a long story, Antoine. And I for one am glad it's over," she smiled. "Come back with us to the war room and we'll tell you all, about it."

Meanwhile, the Lyrehs had retreated back to their own realm. They had failed. The invaders had escaped, and there was now no way of tracking them down. However, they were not beaten. The information they had downloaded from Nicole before Emyain's brother had stolen her, might well reveal their location, once it was translated. And then it was only a matter of time before they could reap their revenge...

**The End **

* * *


End file.
